Arctic Snake
by InsanityFic
Summary: Only knowing the feeling of being cold his whole life, Naruto struggles until he meets the accidental cause of his coldness, who just so happens to offer to teach him to control it and become strong. By learning from his new sensei he'll learn to harness his bloodline and become something great. !Strong!Smart!Hyoton!SnakeSummon!Naruto
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**

 **In this story Naruto won't know his last name for the first little while. The Hokage had never told him in hopes to keep him safe with him being the last known Uzumaki after Kushina and he didn't want people making connections between the two.**

 **Naruto will have shaggy red hair, coloured like his mother, with white tips at the end, signifying his bloodline's physical effect on his body. It'll look similar to Ichigo's hair when it got a bit longer in Bleach. It'll fall to his neck and have the band fall between his eyes too. Oh, and no whiskers. Kurama's chakra affects his chakra strength without the physical effects.**

 **Also, Kurama will be a little sarcastic but won't be all crazy angry. I never found it fair that that Minato got the easy to handle side of Kurama's chakra while Naruto had to have a death fight alongside his mother's spirit to be able to use his. So sorry Minato, you get grumpy pants while your son gets Yin Kurama. That's also the reason Naruto isn't a hyperactive idiot.**

 **Arctic Snake**

From his earliest memory, all Naruto could remember was being cold. No matter the temperature he always felt like there was ice in veins. He remembered one day when he was six where everyone in the village was sweating and complaining about how it was the hottest day of the year, yet he was still bundled up in a sweater and could see his breath in front of him.

Growing up in the orphanage he would shiver day and night due to no one giving him any extra blankets; the matrons there saying he was' _looking for attention_ ', and should stop trying to cause trouble. They refused to touch him for some reason so there was no way they'd know how cold he was anyway. Even when his breath would fog they'd just turn a blind eye. Then he had been kicked out of the orphanage on his fourth birthday because the orphanage was 'overcrowded' and was forced to live out on the streets for two months. An unpleasant experience he wished to never relive.

After he was one day found by a dog-masked Anbu and brought before the Hokage, he was given his own apartment, which was nice for a while. The apartment was only three small rooms; a small kitchen, a living room/bedroom, and a bathroom that had a toilet, a sink, and a shower. But it was _his_. At the orphanage he had never had anything he could call his own, so having a whole apartment was amazing to him. He had a heater that he could sit near while huddled in blankets and warm himself up, as well as hot water which always felt really nice on his freezing cold skin. He also started drinking tea whenever he could for the soothing heat it would spread within him. And for a while things were pleasant in his new home.

Then soon after he moved in the water stopped heating up. Then the heater didn't work either. And soon he found himself cold again. No matter the amount of blankets he curled himself up in he couldn't find that same heat he had been able to enjoy. He had asked the Hokage about it when he came by for a visit one day, but after a couple weeks nothing had changed so he didn't bring it up again. The Hokage was a busy guy after all, there was no reason to bother him with his problems.

So for the next year and a half he remained cold. He had long since gotten used to the constant shivers and seeing his breath in front of him. No one else seemed to pay attention, or they just ignored it, but he did. Sometimes he would just sit by the window, watching people while he drew shapes when his breath would fog up the glass. He would draw random things while he watched the villagers go about their days; mainly he would draw the sun while thinking about the heat other people felt from it, and some days he would draw little figures he called his parents.

He had never known anything about his parents. He assumed he was orphaned during the Kyuubi attack which happened when he was born, but no one had ever told him who they were. He still liked to imagine having parents like other children though. The hugs they would get always looked warm to him. The orphanage workers had said someone like _him_ didn't have parents though. He never understood what they meant; everyone had parents right? Even the other orphans had parents at one point in time. The Hokage was even more tight-lipped than the matrons were. He would just redirect or ignore the question altogether. So like his heating problem, he stopped asking when it became obvious no one wanted to tell him.

Living on his own got lonely pretty quickly for him though. At the orphanage there were people all around, be they workers or other orphans, but in his apartment he was all alone. This rang especially true three months after he moved in when everyone else had moved out and he was the only person living in the building. No one told him why they moved out, but he figured it was his fault. He was always told at the orphanage that he caused problems for everyone, so he assumed the people didn't want to get caught up in these _problems_ that he seemed to cause.

When the loneliness would get bad he would venture out into the village to be around people. This usually backfired and caused him to feel even more isolated because everyone seemed to avoid him. Whether he would walk around the merchant district, the parks, or anywhere else in the village everyone seemed to cut him a wide berth. The whispers he would hear were the worst part though; usually they would be along the lines of him being the 'fox-boy' or demon-brat.

He never understood what they meant when they whispered things like that. Whenever he would get back home from one of his walks he would look in the mirror to see what was so different about him that the villagers could see that he didn't. He had shaggy red hair that was white at the end. He had clear blue eyes that looked like ice, which he thought always looked rather nice. He had a normal nose and normal mouth. His face was slender with just a bit of baby fat. There were no scars on any part of him, and there were certainly no fox ears or a tail that would garner him being a 'fox boy'. There certainly wasn't anything that made him look demonic either. He usually wore a red hooded sweater and black sweatpants in an effort to keep warm, even if they only worked a little. All in all, he was pretty average.

So in the end he had no idea why people avoided him or called him strange names. It seemed that to everyone else he was a demon, and that to him he was just a boy who had trouble remember being warm.

* * *

Hearing his alarm clock go off, the now seven year old Naruto opened his eyes and blearily looked around his room while he felt around for his alarm. Finally finding the switch on the side and turning it off, Naruto sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes and yawned quietly. He didn't have any neighbours so he didn't have to be quiet, but Naruto liked being quiet. The quiet was comforting to him, because if it was quiet there wasn't anything being said about him.

Pulling the covers off his body, Naruto slowly got out of bed and silently walked to his bathroom to get ready for the day. He didn't actually have anywhere to be, so getting showered or dressed wasn't really needed, but the monotony of his routine kept him from just sitting in his apartment all day. His standard cold shower later, Naruto was dressed in his regular clothes and wandered into the kitchen. Pulling out his tea pot, Naruto put in some water and set it above the stove to heat up.

Tea in the morning was his favourite time of the day. He would be granted a few minutes every morning where the heat from his cup would seep into his fingers and spread through his chest after every sip. He would always have to drink it quickly to keep his natural coldness from chilling his drink, but it was worth it for the small moments of heat he could feel. But then the heat was gone and his normal coldness would spread inside him again.

Putting his cup in his sink to clean later, Naruto ate a small breakfast of cereal and grabbed his latest book off the table and started to read. The book was about the history of Konoha, from its' founding up until the Kyuubi attack, and Naruto found it quite fascinating. It detailed all about how Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha founded the village and brought all the warring clans together and lived in relative peace until Madara let and attacked the village. There were chapters on how Konoha fought so well in the three Shinobi World Wars and how the village had never lost in any of the wars. The last chapter was all about the destruction the Kyuubi had brought upon the village and how the Yondaime had fought the nine-tailed fox before he sacrificed himself to kill it. The main theme he noticed about the book was how Konoha was so strong and able to persevere through so many terrible events throughout history.

He had read this particular book a few times, and had even borrowed quite a few other books about Konoha from the village library in an attempt to learn about the village he lived in. The Hokage had talked to him before about the 'Will of Fire' and how great a village Konoha was. How it had the greatest shinobi, the richest history, and how it was able to handle any threat and become stronger afterwards. Naruto didn't understand any of it.

He had never met any of the shinobi in the village, and they had never really done anything for him so he didn't think they were as amazing as he was told. They certainly didn't do much to stop his apartment building from being vandalised so to him the Hokage must have been wrong. The 'Will of Fire' was all about how everyone in Konoha was one big family, but he definitely didn't feel like he was part of a family so that just confused him as well. The history of the village was cool, but Naruto thought the wars were kind of stupid and that Hashirama was even more stupid for giving something like the tailed beasts to the other villages.

What kind of a peace offering is a huge living chakra weapon anyways?

Naruto just found it all confusing. He didn't understand why the shinobi fought for the village. He didn't understand why the Hokage loved the village so much. And he certainly didn't understand why everyone treated him like an outsider.

 **…**

Hearing a knock on his door, Naruto put a bookmark in his latest book and headed for the door. His newest book was about another of the Great Hidden villages; Sunagakure. Naruto was fascinated by the idea of a village being out in the middle of a desert and how hot the village was supposed to be. He was intrigued by the idea of living in a place that was always hot and could maybe warm his chilled body up. The idea of being surrounded by a sea of heat sounded _so_ nice…

Snapping out of his musing, Naruto opened the door and sighed softly to himself. The Hokage was here. Again. Naruto wasn't sure why he was so special to warrant the Hokage coming to see him, but it was starting to grate on his nerves. No one ever wanted him around; not the matrons at the orphanage, not the people that came in to adopt kids, and certainly no one in the village. Everyone made it perfectly clear he wasn't wanted, but the Hokage always came to talk to him every couple weeks. Yet the man would never tell him _why_ he was so special.

"Ah, Hokage-sama. Hello again. Feel free to come in I guess…" he muttered under his breath.

The Hokage just gave him one of those kind smiles he always had. "Hello again Naruto-kun, how are you doing today?" Naruto watched as the Hokage walked in and sat on one of his two small couches. Sighing again, he closed the door and sat on the other couch across from the old man.

"I'm doing fine today. Just doing more reading." Naruto pointed over to the book about Suna. "How are you today Hokage-sama?"

The man just chuckled, which annoyed Naruto all over again, as if he knew Naruto really didn't care but it amused him that Naruto asked. Why come to his home just to play around? He only had this book for two more days and he _would_ like to properly read it before he had to return it.

"I'm doing okay myself Naruto-kun." The man said with another smile. "So you're reading about Sunagakure today? Anything you've read that's particularly interesting?"

He sighed again, which was a constant in these visits. Naruto really didn't want to talk. He had gotten used to not talking over the years, couldn't the man just leave him alone?

"The heat I guess. The idea of a place being so warm sounds pleasant… Puppeteering is kind of interesting too. An odd way to fight, but it seems beneficial for the safety of the user if skilled enough." Naruto answered. Hopefully if he answered the questions he was asked the Hokage would leave and he could go back to reading.

"Yes it is an interesting way to fight." The Hokage responded with a hum. "I've fought a few puppet users over the years, and they're usually one of the trickiest shinobi to fight. They are quite crafty with their puppets and traps. Not to mention their love of all things poisonous."

Naruto didn't have a response for the Hokage though. Although interesting, Naruto didn't really care. If he wanted to learn something he would look to the library. Konoha didn't practice puppeteering, but he supposed there might be some information on famous users in a book somewhere he could learn from. So the room descended into a rather awkward silence for a few seconds, neither occupant knowing what to say.

"So Naruto-kun," the Hokage said to break the tension, "have you any interest in being a shinobi yourself? I'm sure you would do quite well at the academy, it would also give you the chance to grow strong like the ninja you've read about. Plus you could meet other children your age and maybe make some friends there?"

Naruto felt like this was his millionth sigh of the day. He knew the man meant well, but Naruto was a little more than annoyed at him. He was always talking about making friends and talking to people. He had tried before and it never worked out, didn't he know that?

"I appreciate the belief in whatever talents you believe I have Hokage-sama," Naruto drawled out, "but I don't think the academy is really a good fit for me. I've never had that much interest in being a shinobi myself. I'm not from a clan like all the famous shinobi in the history books, and there isn't really anyone to train me so I'd probably just fall behind everyone else." Naruto admitted to the Hokage. "Plus, I don't like my chances of finding friends anywhere, let alone at the academy…"He muttered under his breath.

"Are you sure Naruto-kun? I'm sure if you gave it a chance you would surely come to enjoy it." Naruto could hear the odd level of pleading in the man's voice, which confused him greatly. Why was the man pushing for him to join the academy, he was just an orphan with no last name and no clan, why did he _care_ so much?

"Hokage-sama." Naruto said with a pointed look to the man. "Why do you care if I join the academy or not? I mean I appreciate the vote of confidence, I really do, but why me? I'm just Naruto, a clanless orphan, why does it matter if I'm a shinobi or not?" He finished with a visible heavy breath escaping his lips.

He could see the Hokage freeze up for a second when he finished his questions. It had been obvious to Naruto for a long time the Hokage knew something about him that he didn't want to say. It might have been about his parents, it might have been about why people didn't seem to like him all that much, but it was _something_ that the man didn't want to say.

The Hokage averted his eyes from Naruto's own and looked uncharacteristically weary, something that caused Naruto to raise an eyebrow at. He had never seen the man do that before. Usually he would shrug off his questions and change topics; this was the first time he had shown such a look of weakness. But as soon as it was there it was gone just as swiftly.

"I just believe you would do well as a shinobi. Just because you aren't from a clan doesn't mean you can't be strong. The Yondaime didn't come from a clan and was an orphan much like yourself, but he still became one of the most powerful shinobi the world had ever seen."

He snorted at that. The Yondaime may have been an orphan, but Naruto was sure nobody kept secrets about his heritage or called him a 'demon'.

"Whether you believe it or not doesn't matter much to me Hokage-sama." Naruto said with a roll of the eyes. "I know I wouldn't do well at the academy. If not because I don't have a clan, then most definitely due to me being 'demon' or whatever else people seem to think I am. I doubt any of the teachers at the academy would be very keen to teach my anything."

He could see more hurt flash through the man's eyes, probably at the comment of him being a demon. Naruto didn't care if it caused the main a heart attack, if he didn't want to give him any answers, then he didn't feel all that bad about the old man's emotional turmoil.

"The villagers are just confused about something they don't understand Naruto-kun. I'm sure if you became a great shinobi they would come to respect you. I'm sure if you worked hard enough you could even become Hokage one day." Although Naruto was sure the man meant well, he was getting tired of his persistence.

"I have no desire to earn anyone's recognition or respect. In this entire village no one wants to extend a hand to me, why should I bother to do the same for any of them? Why is it _my_ responsibility to prove my worth to _anyone_?!" He asked through gritted teeth, his fingers gripped onto the edge of the couch. Going unnoticed by either of the room's occupants was the thin layer of frost forming around his fingers.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun," the Hokage said quietly," but I can't tell you why…"

"Well then we're done here aren't we?" Naruto snorted. "Please feel free to leave, and when you no longer feel like lying to me you're free to return any time you wish. Maybe you can bring some answers as a nice party favour next time?" He finished sarcastically.

"If that's what you think is best Naruto-kun. Please think on being a shinobi a bit more, I really do believe you could be great."

"Like I said, your belief in my abilities is appreciated, but ultimately unneeded. I don't care much for being a shinobi, let alone one for Konoha of all villages. Goodbye Hokage-sama."

Pointing to the door, Naruto watched the elderly Kage exit the apartment and close the door behind him. Releasing yet another sigh, Naruto took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly in an effort to calm himself. Who the hell did the man think he was? Just because he was Hokage didn't mean he could just lie to him repeatedly then try to convince him to become Hokage of all things. He laughed at the idea of him as Hokage, the notion was absolutely ridiculous.

Picking up his book to continue reading about Suna's Kages, Naruto lost himself in the pages and let the earlier conversation fade away. It didn't matter what the Hokage believed, Naruto had no interest in being a ninja. As long as he was free to read his books and learn what he wanted to he was just fine.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi took off his Hokage hat and sighed from behind his desk. He had always feared his decisions about the young redhead would cause this to happen. It was his own fault really. Why would a boy who had been neglected his whole life have any interest in becoming a shinobi of the village that shunned him. The real problem was that neither Hiruzen nor Naruto had much of a choice in the matter. Naruto was a jinchuuriki; the container to the nine-tailed demon fox, the Kyubi no Yoko.

Naruto _had_ to be a shinobi. If it wasn't just the fact that he had a demon with a limitless supply of chakra sealed within him, the boy's heritage practically demanded him to be a shinobi as well. The boy's parents were some of the strongest shinobi Hiruzen had known; one of them being much stronger than himself and the other could probably give him a good run for his money. With Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki being the boy's parents it was in his blood to be a ninja.

His father was one of the strongest shinobi to emerge since Hashirama Senju, being touted as the fastest man alive, able to slaughter hundreds of enemies within seconds and later going on to become the Yondaime Hokage, Minato had truly been a fearsome man. Kushina was nothing to scoff at either. With her prowess in fuuinjutsu, kenjutsu and her ability to materialize her chakra into physical chains she was quite a powerful kunoichi in her own right.

Yet Naruto knew none of that.

His father had asked for Naruto to be treated as a hero, but with everyone feeling the loss of the Kyuubi's attack they all felt the need to put the blame somewhere. And with fuuinjutsu being such a complicated art that few understood, they just knew a small redheaded boy had the beast within him and that was good enough for their hate. It had gotten so bad in the days after the attack that he had had to pass a law forbidding anyone to speak of Naruto's status as a jinchuuriki in order to give the boy a chance at a life of normalcy and safety. Fat good that did. People just switched from openly hating him to actively ignoring and degrading the boy, even going so far as to keep their children from him.

Sometimes he cursed himself and other times it would be his wayward spymaster and the boy's godfather, Jiraiya. After the Kyuubi attack, Jiraiya had dived back into his job as spymaster saying 'the village needed it now that they were so weak after the attack'. But Hiruzen knew the real reason; the man was wallowing in his depression over losing his prized apprentice and wanted nothing to do with his godson. Sure he sent money for the boy, but it was obviously out of obligation rather than love. Hiruzen was sure Minato and Kushina were rolling in their graves because of Jiraiya and the village they sacrificed their lives for.

There were days he wondered what was actually stopping him from telling the boy everything. In the beginning he had said it was for the boys' safety. The world would be terrified of the child of two S-rank shinobi like Minato and Kushina, and that wasn't even factoring all the assassins Iwa would send in hopes of killing Naruto just for being Minato's son. But the boy was barely safe from threats inside the village, if he knew his heritage he could at least have the option of learning from the large library of techniques his parents had known and have the chance to grow strong enough to protect himself. Yet Hiruzen didn't want him to be a spoiled child who bragged about being the son of the Yondaime.

Even if he didn't tell Naruto of his heritage, there really was nothing stopping him from telling the boy about the Kyuubi. Although Hiruzen had hoped the young redhead would have a chance at a normal life, he really should have known better. No matter how much he had wished it, Naruto really had no chance at normalcy one he became a jinchuuriki. With the village's hatred of Naruto and their steadfast work in isolating him, he really didn't have the option of anything but a normal life.

Yet still he persisted in not telling the boy anything, if only for his own foolish beliefs in his village and that one day things would get better. God that even sounded cowardly to him. He really cursed Jiraiya for leaving his godson in his care. This was the whole reason his student was named Naruto's godfather, so in the event Minato and Kushina passed away there was something to look after their child. It wasn't fair to him that he should have to look over a village and Naruto. He had already been Hokage and a father before and he didn't really have the energy to be either at his current age, let alone both.

Releasing a sigh and thinking it best to drop the whole 'Naruto becoming a shinobi' issue for now, he grabbed a pen and some ink and decided some paperwork would clear his mind for a little bit. He could only hope that Naruto came around and decided to become a shinobi on his own, otherwise Hiruzen figured he'll end up being forced to send Naruto to the academy against his will, and he did not want to deal with an angry Naruto any time soon.

* * *

It had been a few weeks since the Hokage's last visit, and Naruto had been relieved the elderly man hadn't come back around. Without any interruptions he had been able to focus on reading new books from the library. Though this time he had been reading with a clear purpose in mind. There was a reason the Hokage was so set on Naruto becoming a shinobi, and if no one would tell him why he'd just have to find out himself.

So Naruto checked out books on whatever he could find and took notes on anything and everything. Whatever he figured pertained to him he would pin on his wall and connect it to the question he had in the middle of his growing web; "Why Am I Different?" So far he had been able to add quite a bit to his little conspiracy board, though he didn't actively call it that.

There were a few notes surrounding his internal temperature, or rather how low it always seemed to be and how cold he was all the time. There were a few questions about his lack of parents, but there wasn't much he could do about that. He had no last name to work off of and he couldn't find anything about a clan with red hair. He had no access to the village registry or his medical records so he couldn't even find any information about his heritage that way. In the end it was just dead end after dead end so he let the question of his parents be, or at least until he had some info to go work with.

He had also made notes surrounding his birth and the bijuu that had attacked that day, as well as anything he could find on the other bijuu themselves. He had found it strange when he read about Hashirama sending the bijuu to the other nations that there was never anything written about the bijuu causing damage or attacking the villages once he had left them there. He doubted that all the villages had some secret _Mokuton_ user to calm their bijuu like Hashirama did so he wondered how they were restrained or hidden. There also wasn't anything saying they were used as weapons in any of the three wars, yet the Kyuubi had shown just how effective the tailed beasts were in causing random destruction. Surely if the other nations had these chakra beasts that could cause such devastation they would use them in something like a war, wouldn't they? And for that matter, if the bijuu were capable of being killed, why hadn't any of the others been killed like the Kyuubi had? Surely getting rid of the chakra beasts would be more of an effective peace offering than giving all the nations living super weapons would…

So Naruto worked off those questions and added whatever he thought was the answer to his wall. He figured that Konoha did whatever the other villages did to hide their bijuu, but he just didn't know what that could be. He had look up a bit about sealing, but there was only mention of seals used for storing items or containing bodies for transportation. He didn't think anything that could hold a kunai or a dead body could hold beings like the bijuu, but then he read that fuuinjutsu and sealing was a limitless art, it being completely dependent on the skill of the creator of the seal. That got him thinking, so he looked up everything he could find on the Yondaime and sealing. The results surprised him.

Apparently Minato Namikaze had been a master fuuinjutsu user. He created tons of seals due to his prowess in them, the most well know being his space/time one, the _Hiraishin_. It literally allowed him instantaneous teleportation. So if that was possible, why wasn't sealing a bijuu also a possibility? The only problem was that he didn't know how this all involved him. Sure he was born the day the Kyuubi had attacked, but none of this was actually helping him. So he spent another ten days researching and reading more books, all coming to more dead ends, until yesterday when he had found the answer. Or rather, it found him.

 **…**

 _Sitting on his couch and tossing another book beside his couch in frustration, Naruto forced out a slow breath in an effort to calm himself. Every book he finished had felt like was he taking one step forward but two steps back. Nothing was giving him the answers he needed yet he felt like the answer was looking him right in the face and all he had to do was reach out and grab it. He just didn't know what he was supposed to be reaching for._

 _Deciding he needed to clear his head and take a step back from all this, Naruto got up and made himself a small cup of tea. Tea always relaxed him and calmed down his freezing cold body. Allowing the tea to warm his insides for a brief moment, Naruto closed his and let the tea work its' magic. Tea really was amazing to him, not only did it have a soothing fragrance, it also warmed him and let him fully relax and wind down whenever he drank it. Truly a magical drink…_

 _Opening his eyes, Naruto blinked and realized he was no longer in his apartment. Instead he was in some odd sewer-like tunnel with a sheet of frozen water in the bottom, which was really odd because it was the middle of summer in Konoha and there was no way the village's sewer system could be frozen over. Looking up to inspect above him, he noticed two pipes were running along the ceiling; one being nearly frozen over with a small amount of blue liquid running through it, and the other one seemed to be glowing with a red bubbly energy that felt extremely warm and oddly dangerous to him._

 _Looking over his surroundings one more time and seeing there was nothing besides the pipes above him and the random torch spaced out along the wall for lighting, Naruto figured his best option was to start walking and find a way out from wherever he was. This was easier said than done though, as what felt like an hour of walking later turned up neither an exit nor any other paths. It seemed this tunnel only had one direction and he was being forced to follow it._

 _Coming out into a large room, Naruto noticed this place just seemed like a larger version of the tunnel he was just in. There were the same torches on the wall and the ground was still frozen over. There were a few differences however; the two minor ones being that the frozen pipe seemed to disappear into the middle of the ceiling, while the bubbly red one turned in the middle of the ceiling before it disappeared into the darkness behind the biggest difference this room had._

 _It had a large cage in it._

 _Actually, Naruto thought large didn't accurately describe this cage. It was absolutely massive. It had large steel-like bars that ran from the frozen ground, all the way to the ceiling. The lock was also weird too, in that it wasn't a lock so much as it was a piece of paper. Taking a few steps to get a closer look, he noticed the word 'Seal' was written on it. This was all so strange to Naruto. What type of being could possibly need a cage this big to hold it?_

 _Musing over the possibility that whatever was in the cage must have been quite powerful to require this level of safety, Naruto was unprepared for felt like a wave of pure power and death to wash over him. He had always thought he ran cold, but his usual temperature had nothing on the pure dread this power caused him. It was terrifying and it felt like it was making his blood literally freeze over. He also noticed he hadn't taken a breath in twenty seconds and let out a large exhale and gulped down a few shaky breaths._

 _It was when the room started to shake with the sound of footsteps that he snapped out of his shock for a second and looked into the cage, causing his eyes to widen. As the footsteps got closer he was able to see more and more of the creature that caused his earlier terror. The first thing he saw was big, red, slitted eyes. Then came a red fuzzy snout and big rabbit like ears attached to a large fox head. Then the rest of its body came out of the shadows and into view, allowing Naruto to see the nine flowing tails and immediately recognize the being in front of him._

" _Kyuubi…" He whispered out._

" _ **That's right brat."**_ _The bijuu snorted out._ _ **"Good job on not fainting when you saw me. Knowing how weak you humans are I figured you would have passed out right away. Kami knows enough of you did that when I… attacked your village and people felt my power wash over them."**_

 _Naruto could admit he had no idea what was happening right now. The Kyuubi was right in front of him! He had been pondering what had happened to the great beast during his investigating but he didn't think the answer would just drop right in front of him while drinking tea. So he asked the only question that his frazzled mind could conjure._

" _Huh?"_

 _He could hear the fox chuckle at him, no doubt because he probably sounded so stupid right there. But it wasn't fair really, what was a seven year old supposed to say when presented with the strongest being in the world?_

" _ **Very intelligent question there kit? Want to try again?"**_ _The Kyuubi said sarcastically._

" _Sorry, uh I mean… What are you doing here? I mean, everyone says you're dead, I wondered if that was true myself, but you know…" He finished off lamely, mentally smacking himself for sounding so unintelligent right now._

" _ **I guess if you must know, I was sealed away the day I attacked."**_ _The fox begrudgingly replied._ _ **"Though I will say this, I'd like to see anyone else take on the Shinigami of all things and come out unscathed. How your Yondaime managed to pull off summoning the Death God of all things I'll never know."**_ _Naruto wasn't sure but it sounded like a mix of anger, respect and amusement when it talked of the Yondaime._

" _The Shinigami sealed you? How is that even possible?"_

" _ **I just said I didn't know brat, Kami you humans are stupid sometimes."**_ _Naruto had the decency to flush in embarrassment at that._ _ **"But yes, the Shinigami sealed me away in a host in return for the soul of the Yondaime. Hopefully that bastard human is enjoying himself in the gut of the Shinigami for doing this to me. I'm sure the side of my chakra he took is keeping him good company too."**_

" _Did you say host? He sealed you away in a living being, how's that even possible?" Naruto really did want to know. This could open up new leads in his investigation!_

" _ **Yes kit, host, as in a body. Are you actually listening or are your ears just for show?"**_ _Naruto was beginning to suspect that sarcasm was a favourite of the large kitsune._ _ **"Due to my immense chakra, only a living being could house me properly. I'm too strong for an object and an animal, as I would just overload them both with chakra until I was free. So instead your Yondaime sealed me away into a newborn, thus allowing its' undeveloped chakra coils to adjust to my presence and safely house my chakra without exploding. All rather clever I suppose…"**_ _It finished, muttering the clever part lowly._

 _Naruto supposed that all made sense. The Kyuubi was the strongest of the bijuu and judging by the small taste of its immense power he felt earlier, the full thing must be totally overwhelming. Although the newborn part was curious…_

" _So this newborn he apparently sealed you in, is it the obvious answer or am I allowed some level of mercy from Kami and the answer isn't what I think it is?"_

 _The fox just chuckled, giving him the answer anyway._ _ **"Maybe you aren't as dumb as you look brat."**_ _Yeah, sarcasm was_ definitely _a favourite._ _ **"Yes, I am sealed inside of you. We are currently inside what could be called a sealscape, basically meaning we are inside the seal. A meeting room of sorts."**_ _Naruto was thankful the Kyuubi was kind enough to explain things. This was all rather overwhelming._

" _Well I guess that answers why people don't like me all that much…" Naruto muttered under his breath. "Would you be able to tell me exactly why I was chosen for the sealing? Was I just convenient, or should I brace myself for more shocking truths?" When the kitsune smirked, Naruto decided to brace himself for whatever was about to be said._

" _ **Well I've never been a parent myself, but I imagine most parents would rather use their own child before asking someone else to give up their own, now wouldn't they?"**_

' _Well fuck.' THAT was why no one would tell him who his parents were? Because his father was the fucking Yondaime? Naruto had never sworn before, but this seemed like the proper occasion for swearing._

" _So the Yondaime was my father?" Receiving a nod and another smirk, he continued on. "Is there any chance you know of my mother? Was she famous as well?"_

" _ **While not as famous as your father, your mother was definitely strong in her own right. She had to be to house me didn't she?"**_ _His eyes widened at that, the Kyuubi had been sealed in someone before?!_ _ **"Yes kit, I've been sealed before. Twice actually…"**_ _The Kyuubi grumbled out._ _ **"First in the wife of your Shodai Hokage, Mito Uzumaki. Then when she died I was moved to your mother, Kushina Uzumaki. After I was removed from your mother I was sealed once again into you, my third container, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze."**_ _Naruto was having trouble breathing now, though he did hear something about 'damned Uzumakis'._

" _Um, wait, you said removed right?" Receiving another nod, he asked the other question on his mind. "Is that why you attacked, because you were removed from my mother?"_

 _Naruto was surprised when the Kyuubi snarled and released another wave of pressure from behind the cage. The fox had been rather civil, if a little sarcastic, during their conversation. This was the first time he had seen it angry._

" _ **I never wanted to attack your foolish village when I was released. Why should I waste my time on what you stupid humans do? If you want to blame someone, blame those cursed Uchiha and their stupid eyes!"**_ _The kitsune roared out._ _ **"The second I was free from your mother I was put under a powerful genjutsu and sent to attack your idiotic village by some masked Uchiha. Next thing I know I'm free from that damned eye and staring right down at the Shinigami. Your father sells his soul to seal me away into you, and your mother dies soon after due to her being weakened because of giving birth to you and having me ripped out of her."**_

 _Naruto just nodded along. He finally had answers! This was amazing and depressing all at the same time. He finally knew what that lying Hokage had been keeping from him all this time as well as why he was so adamant about getting him but in the Shinobi Program at the academy, because Naruto was basically a living weapon._

" _Um, thanks for telling all this Kyuubi." Naruto said with a small smile. "I never really figured I'd find out about my parents and everything else, so this means a lot to me. So uh, thanks, again…"_

" _ **Yeah whatever kit, don't get all teary eyed on me now."**_ _The fox said with another rumbling chuckle._ _ **"Now beat it so I can go back to my nap. We'll talk some other time."**_

 _Before Naruto could say anything else, another hot blast of power pushed him backwards and launched him from the seal. Blinking from the shock of suddenly finding himself back in his apartment, Naruto looked down and noticed his tea was still partially warm. Figuring that time in the seal must have moved a lot faster, Naruto took a soothing sip of his tea and leaned back into his couch. With all the information given to him, he had a lot to figure out now._

 **…**

After doing a bit more work on his wall with the new info he had, Naruto went to bed that night content with everything that he had been told. Though it opened up more questions like who the masked Uchiha was and why he wanted to use the Kyuubi to attack Konoha, it answered his immediate questions. He know knew the name of his parents, that he was the container for the Kyuubi, and that the Sandaime was a damned liar. Looking to his wall, he thought it best to get rid of everything he had put up on it so as not to arouse suspicion. He figured that if people didn't want him to know any of this, he wouldn't give them any reason to think he did.

' _ **Good thinking, quite the clever kit aren't you?'**_

"AH! What the hell was that?"

Naruto could hear a sigh come from within him. _**'Never mind kit, I take back what I said. You're still just as stupid as everyone else.'**_

"Wait a sec, Kyuubi? Is that you?" This was really weird, he didn't think the Kyuubi would be able to talk to him when he wasn't inside the seal.

" _ **Do you have any other large foxes inside of you kit? It's obviously me. And no need to say anything out loud. I believe you were just talking about concealing the information you know, so there's no need to make people suspicious by looking crazy and talking aloud to no one."**_

Although he could hear the condescension and sarcasm in the fox's voice, it didn't change that fact that the fox was right. No need to make people start looking at him more than they already did by looking like he was talking to himself.

' _Sorry Kyuubi, was there something you wanted?'_

' _ **There we go, much better. And as a matter of fact there is something you can do for me.'**_ Naruto wasn't sure how, but it almost seemed like he could picture the fox adjusting itself while they were having their mental conversation. _**'We need to talk about your training.'**_

' _Training? What training?'_

' _ **C'mon kit, use your head a little. You may only be seven, but I know you're smarter than this.'**_ Trying to ignore the snort that came from within his head, Naruto waited for the kitsune to continue. _**'Obviously your shinobi training. You were complaining to the wrinkled human before about how you didn't have a clan or the proper teacher if you were to become a shinobi. Well know you have both. Plus hopefully once you get some chakra control training going you can stop shivering all the damn time. Seriously, if it wasn't for the fact I can heat my side of the seal I would have frozen over by now.'**_

' _Wait, you're going to train me? And what do you mean chakra control, what does that have to do with me being cold?'_ Naruto was eager to know this. He had been cold as long as he could remember, if there was a way to train so he could stay warm then he would do whatever the large fox wanted.

' _ **I keep forgetting you're only seven so you don't know anything about chakra.'**_ He could hear the bijuu sigh from within his mind again. This seal he had was seriously amazing. _**'Chakra is what fuels a human and also allows shinobi to breathe fire and that other junk you humans do with it. Every human also has an affinity to a certain element; them being earth, water, fire, wind and lightning. Now you're special because due to inheriting your father's and your mother's strong wind and water affinities, you also have my chakra leaking into you which actually caused your two affinities to combine within you.'**_

' _My affinities combined? How is that possible, and what does this mean?_ _ **'**_ Naruto enjoyed learning, so if the fox _was_ offering to teach him more in the future, he already found himself leaning towards accepting. This shinobi business was really fascinating stuff.

' _ **What it means is that due to my dense chakra being mixed into your system through the seal, you have a kekkai genkai, or a bloodline. Your body is naturally mixing your two affinities to create ice chakra, thus chilling your body.'**_ So that was why he was always cold, his body was literally creating ice? _**'And because you have so much chakra for a human your age and no control over it, it runs rampant inside your body, causing your chakra to chill you so much.'**_

' _Oh wow. I had no idea that was possible. So if I want to control this and start, you know, not being cold all the time, what would I have to do?'_

' _ **That's the easy part kit, I'll be training you. That way you can control your damned ice chakra and hopefully I won't have to be constantly putting out chakra to keep myself from freezing over.'**_ Rubbing the back of his neck and chuckling a weak 'sorry', Naruto let Kyuubi continue talking. _**Unfortunately you'll have to attend your dumb shinobi academy to keep up appearances, so once you talk to your wrinkled leader we'll start your training. For now we can work on the fundamentals, so the first thing you need to know about chakra is that it's made up of…'**_

* * *

Sitting in the back of his classroom that he had been stuck in over the last four years or so, Naruto let loose a sigh and ignored Iruka-sensei's rambling about the Genin Exam that was tomorrow while he stared out the window. Training over the years had actually been fun, something he had never experienced. Although a sarcastic ass sometimes, Kurama had been a really awesome teacher. Much better than anyone at this Kami forsaken academy, that's for sure. At least his sensei, despite being a mountain-sized fox actually taught practical skills as well as history. Knowing how to fight was more likely to save your life than knowing that Hashirama Senju was called the 'God of Shinobi' and had the _Mokuton_ kekkai genkai.

His relationship with his tenant/sensei was a rather odd one. Over the years he had finally learned the bijuu had a name, which was Kurama. He had to train relentlessly for two years before he had earned enough of the fox's respect and had been _graced with his amazing name_. Damned fox and his high and mighty attitude. Though despite everything Naruto still liked to call Kurama a friend, sarcasm and all. His tenant was an awesome instructor, hid method to explain the fundamentals most so he could find the answer on his own by working with what he was given was what made learning so great. This boosted his already quick mind into becoming a better problem solver and quick thinker, as well as giving him the odd quirk of needing to know how every jutsu he used worked.

Chakra control took months to get to an acceptable level, even with the _Shadow Clones_ he was eventually taught how to use. Due to the bijuu being sealed inside his mother and Mito, Kurama knew a lot about shinobi training, as well as some stuff the fox developed on its own. All this resulted in Naruto now having near perfect control of his chakra despite having Kage-level reserves at the age of twelve. He had the chakra control to learn medical ninjutsu if he wanted, but neither he nor Kurama knew of any and Naruto didn't have access to actual jutsu yet, so they were at an impasse there.

Taijutsu and physical conditioning was sped up immensely due to the healing factor Kurama's chakra gave him on top of his Uzumaki vitality. Due to this awesome healing combination, Naruto was able to train intensely every day and be back in fighting condition the next day. It also resulted in him being able to train every muscle every day, because his muscles would always heal no matter how torn they got. Kurama had taught him how to fight by teaching him a taijutsu style designed around foxes. It used a lot of clawed swipes and swift movements to slowly wear your opponent down by causing minor wounds all over their body until you were able to go in for the kill.

His taijutsu style mixed well with his taijutsu training, as it was because of his bloodline training he was able to effectively use the Kitsune no Tsume, or Fox Claw taijutsu style. Due to intense training in water and wind manipulation, as well as ice, Naruto had near perfect mastery over all his elements. This allowed him to form a set of ice claws over his fingertips, giving him the ability to actually claw at his opponents. Another benefit due to his elemental training was that he was able to use high class ninjutsu with fewer hand seals due to the knowledge Kurama had from Mito. Apparently his tenant's first host had seen the Nidaime, Tobirama Senju, training quite often and had learned a lot of his work on water manipulation. Due to the intense work in water manipulation he put in, Naruto was able to effectively pull water out of the air and even use the _Suiton: Water Dragon Jutsu_ with only five handseals, instead of than the standard forty. He was working his way down to only one, but it required _tons_ of practice with the technique. The same also went for his mother seeing his father's wind manipulation training, so Naruto was able to train the two components of his bloodline rather well.

Fuuinjutsu was, as odd it was to him, usually used as a relaxer for him. It all came to him so easily that it was frightening to both him and his kitsune-sensei. Due to Kurama having been sealed in two fuuinjutsu mistresses, he had a lot of knowledge to pass on, and Naruto soaked _all_ of it up nearly instantly. Once he had the basics down he was able to absorb anything Kurama taught him and was able to recreate it within a week. Their study into barrier seals was a blessing, as it allowed them to do intense ninjutsu training without alerting anyone of the large amounts of chakra being expelled all the time. His fuuinjutsu work also gave him the opportunity to renovate some of the empty rooms in his apartment building. By selling some of his basic seals, storage and explosive, under a false identity and _Henge_ to shops he was able to make enough money to buy all the rooms on his floor and turn them into a large sealing workshop. This allowing him to test any seals he wanted from inside his own home, thankfully the barriers would block any explosions caused by his experiments.

Unfortunately his _Hyoton_ kekkai genkai training was pretty much imagination mixed with trial and error because other than a clan in Kirigakure no had the _Hyoton_ bloodline so there was no ninjutsu _to_ learn. He had been able to create a number of ninjutsu and was now able to control it well enough that he didn't need to be huddled in warm clothes anymore though. Now he wore clothes that were inspired from all his unknowing senseis. He wore standard black shinobi sandals and black shinobi pants, as well red bandages on his right thigh that had seals woven into the fabric to hold his kunai and shuriken; the bandages representing Mito and her knowledge that taught him seals. He wore a tight, long-sleeved dark blue shirt that had white fur lining the neck, an homage to Tobirama and his teaching of water manipulation to him. Over that he wore a standard Jonin looking flak jacket, except his was a dark red with black trim around the sides and didn't have the high neck other's had. It also had the Uzumaki clan symbol on the left shoulder with a three-pronged kunai stitched in the middle of it, both representing his parents. Luckily no one thought anything of the symbol.

And although he wanted to put a big nine-tailed fox on his back, he and his sensei both agreed it was a rather bad idea at the moment. No need to send everyone into a panic over 'the fox taking over' or whatever nonsense the people believed.

The academy and its curriculum was basically a waste of time and Naruto either sent clones in his place, or treated it as a way to rest from his own intense training. And although the naps he had and other bad behaviours cost him the Rookie of the Year title, Naruto didn't really care. He was second in the boys and third ranked overall which was fine, being only behind Sasuke Uchiha for the boys and Sakura Haruno for second overall. Naruto actually hated the both of them, though for totally different reasons. Neither of them for jealously he would assure you vehemently.

Sasuke Uchiha was an arrogant douchebag. It was as simple as that. Ever since the Uchiha Massacre when they were eight, Sasuke had become a 'Grade-A Asshat'. He had a permanent scowl on his face, and Kurama liked to joke that his hair 'looked like a ducks' ass'. He would always go on about how he 'was an Uchiha' and during spars he would say that 'only an Uchiha can beat an Uchiha' so it was unnecessary for his opponents to fight him. That usually caused Kurama to roar with laughter, because it was literally Sasuke's older brother Itachi Uchiha who massacred the Uchiha Clan. It was also funny because Naruto would _always_ beat Sasuke in spars.

It was because Naruto always won in his spars that he hated fan girls, especially the screeching fan girl voice of Sakura Haruno. Although a somewhat pretty girl, her personality was absolutely terrible. She believed Sasuke was Kami's gift to the world and would violently attack anyone who said or did anything that proved otherwise. And because Naruto always beat Sasuke in the academy spars, Sakura would always end up screeching at Naruto about how 'he cheated' or that 'Sasuke was just having a bad day'. Any excuse that would let the delusional girl continue believing that Sasuke was still infallible in her eyes. The other fan girls were bad, but Sakura was very much the worst. It was only due to her being book smart and having her weak taijutsu forms memorized that she was the top kunoichi in the class.

The rest of the class was okay for the most part. Shikamaru Nara, a boy who probably had a diagnosable case of laziness, was usually good for a match of shogi once in a while. Shikamaru's friend, Choji Akamichi, was pretty laid back as well and usually provided conversation during their shogi matches, though was very gentle and would usually avoid sparring people as he was afraid to hurt them. Kiba Inuzuka was a braggart, also extremely loud, so Naruto tended to avoid him at all costs. Though his ninken partner Akamaru was pretty cool. Ino Yamanaka was a Sasuke fan girl… so he hated her as well, though she was a somewhat serious kunoichi so he didn't hate her _as_ much. Hinata Hyuuga was different though. She was the only kunoichi-in-training that wasn't obsessed with Sasuke and trained hard. Unfortunately she was also terribly shy and had severe confident issues, usually resulting in her doing a turtle impression whenever called upon and ducking her head into her oversized jacket. Everyone else in the class were civilian children, so all of them were pretty mediocre. Naruto didn't really pay much attention to them, if he paid attention to them at all.

Looking back from his view of the sparring grounds outside, Naruto listened as Iruka-sensei finished explaining what their Genin Exam would be on and proceeded to wish everyone luck for tomorrow. Naruto snorted at that. After four years at the academy, he didn't need luck to pass the academy's pathetic exam. All he was focused on was the fact that in twenty-four hours he would finally have a hitai-ate and would be able to learn from a Jonin-sensei. He only hoped he either got a genjutsu or ninjutsu specialist. Ninjutsu would be cool, because he had the reserves and control to toss around ninjutsu all day for fun if he wanted, but he and Kurama both had an interest in genjutsu. Neither of them knew much genjutsu besides one that was used by Tobirama called the _Bringer of Darkness Jutsu_ , and although it was an extremely strong illusion it didn't have the same finesse and subtlety of other genjutsu. Though learning to fight without sight was a great training method.

Walking out of the academy and to his apartment, Naruto let his usual impassive look remain on his face while he traversed through the streets with his eyes closed. He had long since learned to ignore the looks and whispers from those around him, and his walks let him work on his sensory skills and make notes on new ninjutsu or seals. Trying to decide on what he wanted for dinner tonight, Naruto headed up the steps to make dinner while preparing for the next day.

Soon he would finally be Genin Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Yay new story being released beside my first story. So I was sitting around bored and pumped this baby out and decided I liked it enough to work on it in tandem with my other story. I like the idea of a strong, smart,** _ **Hyoton**_ **Naruto. Also, the reason his hair is tipped white is because of the Ice chakra being rampant in his chakra network for so long. It basically just represents his** _ **Hyoton**_ **bloodline.**

 **Earlier on Naruto mentions about he certainly wouldn't want to be a ninja of Konoha, this is true. Despite him becoming a Genin, he isn't becoming a shinobi so as to support the village. It's basically just a means for him to learn new things. He has an interest in learning medical ninjutsu and genjutsu, so he'll be working on that sometime down the road. Not sure who his team sensei will be though. I like the idea of him being frustrated with Kakashi to the point he goes to learn from Kurenai hearing she's a genjutsu specialist. I would imagine since none of Team Eight is interested in genjutsu she would be somewhat eager to teach and pass on her skills to someone.**

 **He is similar to Orochimaru in the desire to learn new things, but different in that he's not a total scumbag. I also like the idea of him stealing something of Orochi's later on…**

 ***cough* Snake Contract *cough cough* Kusanagi *cough***

 **Ugh, bad cough. Anyways, hope you like this story. Hopefully I'll be able to put out a chapter of this and** _ **Goddess**_ **on a rotation every week or every other. New to fanfiction writing so who knows. I certainly don't. Oh, and if you have a pairing that you like for this that would work I'm all ears. Just explain in a review or something why it works. I like the idea of Anko/Naruto, but if you can provide me with another that'd be good. If you suggest multiple girls the max will be two for sure. I'll probably stay away from femHaku though, I have something planned for Haku and that boy certainly won't be living after the Land of Waves.**

 **Hope you enjoyed and see you in chapter two,**

 **InsanityFic.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Arctic Snake – Chapter Two**

Soaking up the heat from the early morning sun, Naruto smiled as he practiced his daily chakra control exercises. As part of his usual training routine he had to practice chakra control daily due to his ever-growing reserves. He had looked into locking the part of the seal that allowed Kurama's chakra to trickle into his own reserves, but decided against it in the end. As confident as he was in his fuuinjutsu abilities, he didn't know much about his own seal and didn't want to risk himself exploding or something by messing with it.

Plus relaxing on a small waterfall and balancing leaves all over his body using chakra was a pleasant trade-off for larger reserves.

He did this every morning before he would head home for some breakfast and head to the academy. His day usually started with a five a.m. wake up, followed by chakra control practice. Then breakfast and the academy, which usually meant naps for him. Following the academy would be physical conditioning and practicing his taijutsu forms, then some light ninjutsu practice and dinner. After dinner would usually be fuuinjutsu or some reading to relax. Every part of his day was planned, which allowed him the best mix of relaxing and training, resulting in him getting stronger day by day.

Ninjutsu had hit a bit of a standstill in the last few months, mainly because he didn't have any ninjutsu to practice. Mito and his mother didn't use much ninjutsu, as they preferred using seals or in the case of his mother; kenjutsu and her chakra chains. Although both Uzumaki women had seen their fair share of ninjutsu from Hashirama, Tobirama, and his father, neither of them had really bothered to learn the mechanics of many of the techniques they witnessed. Usually it was up to Kurama to break down the ninjutsu he had stored away and break it down so Naruto could learn it, and then Naruto having to say something along the lines of how amazing his sensei was so that Kurama would actually teach him.

He had an extensive list of water ninjutsu from both Tobirama and Hashirama, but didn't have a lot of wind ninjutsu. He actually didn't have any. His father wasn't one for elemental ninjutsu so besides training his affinity he didn't bother to learn any besides some basic techniques. Other than the _Hiraishin_ and different variants of the _Rasengan,_ his father didn't use a whole lot else. Sadly, his mother had never had the space-time ninjutsu explained to her so neither he nor Kurama had been able to do much in learning his father's prized technique. Though the _Rasengan_ was easily learned once Kurama realized it was based off his own chakra based attack, the _Bijuudama_. The A-rank technique was pretty awesome and allowed Naruto to practice his shape manipulation to a high degree, but he didn't really like using the technique.

His preferred method of combat was water or ice ninjutsu with a mix of taijutsu. The _Rasengan_ was cool, but he didn't like the fact it was a one-off attack used in close range. He'd much rather stick to close-mid range combat and fight up close with his _Hyoton: Ice Claw_ jutsu while mixing in a few single handseal water jutsu from a distance to keep his opponent wary. He was looking forward to when he could finally start getting real world experience, as no matter how many times he fought his clones, it didn't provide the real thing. Only by fighting lots of opponents and different style would he finally be able to see if his combat style was effective.

Sitting up from the waterfall and shaking loose a few stray drops of water from his hair, Naruto hopped down to the ground and looked over his training ground. He had found training ground thirty-four when he started training and claimed it for his own. Luckily most people preferred the lower number training grounds because they didn't like having to travel this far out, but it worked perfectly for Naruto. It had a clearing that was good for sparring, a rocky outcrop that trained him to be aware of his footing at all times and it was surrounded by tree so he was able to practice fighting while tree hopping. It also had a small waterfall that was perfect for his wind and water manipulation training, resulting in it being the perfect training ground.

Leaving his training ground and hopping up into the trees, Naruto was a little excited for the day's events. Today was the Genin Exam, meaning he could finally start working on his actual shinobi career rather than be stuck in a classroom all day. No offense to Iruka-sensei, but daily lectures were annoying and unnecessary. He would finally be able to take missions to earn money and hopefully gain access to a medical and genjutsu teacher. Despite his money from selling his seals, he was only able to do that from time to time, as his false persona was of a travelling merchant who sold basic seals to Konoha's ninja shops once every two months. Though the lessons in budgeting his money was a good experience, he'd like to see his classmates try to plan out their finances to last every two months and still be able to pay rent for the five apartments that made up his home/workshop.

Walking through the village and going up the steps to his apartment, Naruto hopped into his shower and relaxed under the warm water. Temperature Seals were a true miracle to him and he was so glad he had developed them in an effort to provide himself with hot water again. By using two storage seals that were interconnected by a heat seal, he was able to store the cold water and funnel it through the heat seal, causing it to heat up to a nice temperature and be expelled through the releasing storage seal in his shower head. They were also great for heating up water for a cup of tea quickly.

Finishing up his shower and getting dressed in his usual shinobi clothes, Naruto grabbed a quick breakfast of eggs and toast with some orange juice and headed out for the academy. Only a few short tests and he would finally have his hitai-ate. He wondered what coloured cloth he should get and where to put it…

 **…**

Looking over the written test in front of him, Naruto had to wonder just what the academy hoped this would do to help the shinobi-to-be in his class. How did the fact that Tobirama created the Uchiha Police help a shinobi stay alive? Every question was absolutely ridiculous and had no place in shinobi studies. If he was ever Hokage, this awful curriculum would be the first thing to go. No one way would his village teach this crap beyond the second year of the academy. Learning history was all well and good, he loved reading about the history of the nations, but these trivial facts and tidbits they were being tested on was unnecessary. He understood that knowing where you come from was important, but knowing historical facts about your own village didn't help you survive.

Finishing up the test and handing it over to Iruka-sensei and receiving a 'good job' in return from the friendly Chuunin, Naruto walked back to his desk and laid his head on its side and watched out the window. There were still a few more tests for today and he wished he could just speed through them without having to wait. Now that his written test was done, the following test would be the shuriken and kunai throwing test. The test was meant to see the students' proficiency in their throwing skills by having them use ten shuriken and ten kunai to hit static targets. How that proved they were skilled in throwing was beyond him. How exactly was your ability to hit a stationary target while standing still prove to anyone you were an accurate shinobi? He highly doubted an enemy shinobi would just stand still and allow you to line up your throws.

After the kunai/shuriken accuracy test was the sparring and taijutsu portion of the exam. Each student was to be put up against one of the instructors and would either have to win the spar, land five hits, or survive the three minute time limit to pass. He hoped he got Mizuki-sensei for his sparring partner. It would be nice to inflict some damage to the white haired Chuunin who had it out for him. Although the practice in dispelling the genjutsu Mizuki would always place over his tests were helpful, it didn't change the fact it was annoying and pissed off the redheaded boy something fierce.

After sparring would be a short break for lunch, then the final test would be given; the ninjutsu exam. This was the worst part of the exam to Naruto. He understood that it was up to their Jonin-sensei they received outside the academy to do the bulk of their practical training, but the academy really dropped the ball on ninjutsu training to him. How in the hell did they expect any of them, especially the civilians, to be able to survive out in the world with only three E-rank, non-elemental ninjutsu. Even if the _Kawarimi_ and _Henge_ were both valuable tools, the standard _Illusion Clone_ jutsuwas an absolutely useless technique. Being able to substitute or hide yourself with a transformation were invaluable in being able to survive, but what purpose did a non-solid clone that didn't even have a shadow provide? He was just happy he had his _Water Clone_ and _Shadow Clone Jutsu_ to use. He couldn't imagine using anything besides solid clones.

Hearing Iruka-sensei announce that they were headed outside to start on the accuracy test, Naruto supposed he would just have to remain patient and hold in his utter exasperation over today's test. He wanted a hitai-ate dammit…

 **…**

Fastening his new hitai-ate with a black cloth around his neck, Naruto smiled to himself from within his apartment. It wasn't often he smiled outside of when he achieved something in training, and despite how much of a joke the Genin Exam was he was still happy he had passed. The beating he gave Mizuki was a good boost to his already good mood too. Though he supposed he had his sensei to thank for training him so well.

' _ **You're welcome kit. I know it's hard for you to accept my greatness, but it's nice to hear you're starting to learn.'**_

' _Although I didn't mean for you to hear it, thanks anyway Kurama.'_

Sighing at his tenant's huge ego, Naruto decided he would do some study in fuuinjutsu before he went to bed for the night. He was currently working on a barrier seal that was powered by the chakra of the person that was trapped inside of it. Hopefully he would be able to use it as a means of prisoner containment or as a method of wearing down opponents into chakra exhaustion. Either way, he was sure he could sell it to the Torture and Interrogation Department as a way to hold their prisoners one day.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked over the Jonin who were in his office that were applying to be sensei's this year. Compared to most years, this graduating class had a large amount of clan children, specifically clan heirs. With there being the heirs to the Hyuuga, Akamichi, Nara, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, Aburame, and Uchiha all in one class it was no surprise that he had twenty Jonin looking to become a sensei this year. No doubt most of them were looking to be able to notch being a sensei off their bucket list by teaching a three-man cell of clan children.

Although there were a few that didn't fit that idea. Kurenai Yuhi was one. A rather new Jonin who specialized in genjutsu, this was her first year applying for a team. Kurenai was a beautiful woman with long dark hair and crimson eyes, and was known as the Ice Queen of Konoha, due to her cold attitude to all the men that would hit on her. She was a very serious kunoichi, but was known to be a rather kind woman to people she liked and was likely the top genjutsu practitioner in the village. Hiruzen knew she would make a good Jonin-sensei to the new Genin that were placed under her.

Another one was his son Asuma Sarutobi. Although not having the best relationship with his son, Hiruzen could admit Asuma was a very skilled Jonin. He was clever on the battlefield and was talented in his used of trench knives mixed with his wind manipulation. He had the experience from serving as a guardian for the Daimyo, and would definitely do well as a sensei. He would have to be sure to place him with a team that would benefit from having a sensei that valued planning and teamwork.

The other noticeable jonin in the room was Kakashi Hatake. Despite being an extremely lazy man with an even bigger affinity for erotic novels, Kakashi was probably the strongest Jonin in the village. Genin at six, Chuunin at eight and Jonin at thirteen, his rank was well-earned. Coupled with the Sharingan under his hitai-ate, he was a very skilled individual. He prized teamwork above all else, but had never taken a Genin team in all his years as a Jonin. Well, he had never passed one. Hiruzen figured he was looking to teach the last Uchiha and his sensei's son who both graduated this year.

Clearing his throat and drawing all eyes to him, he looked over his list of graduates before he addressed the room.

"Thank you everyone for coming tonight. We have a new batch of graduating students this year, and this meeting is for the purpose of designing the best possible three-man cells we can." He said while looking over the sea of Jonin before him. "Now before we start, does anyone have any requests for a team? If so, please step forward and explain your reasoning."

Seeing the three Jonin he was just thinking about step forward, Hiruzen allowed a small smile to form on his face. He should have known some of his top shinobi would already have something in mind for their teams. Nodding to his son, he allowed Asuma to go first.

"I would like to request to have the new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho for my team." Said Asuma, briefly pausing to take a small inhale of his customary cigarette. "The Ino-Shika-Cho is a legendary team formation in our village's history and I see no reason to split them up now. I'll be able to teach them proper teamwork, and assuming the Nara boy is as smart as his dad, I'll be able to teach him tactics and planning too. They'll most likely work well as an information gathering and interrogation team like their parents."

"Yes that sounds like a fine plan to me." Hiruzen said to his son, before turning his gaze to the kunoichi before him. "And what about you Kurenai?"

"I would like to be able to put together a tracking and capture squad Hokage-sama. I believe that by putting Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame on a team together they'll be one of the best team of trackers in the village once they're older." Kurenai stated. "With the ocular powers of the Byakugan, the nose of the Inuzuka, and the chakra draining powers of the Aburame they'll be able to find just about anyone and be able to effectively capture any target placed before them."

Hiruzen could see the merit in a team built around the three young new Genin Kurenai mentioned. They all had impressive talents on their own, but the idea of their skills all together on one team was almost terrifying in its' potential. Allowing Kurenai to step back, Hiruzen motioned for Kakashi to step forward while simultaneously ignoring his perverted giggling.

"I'd like to request Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto to be on my team. The third member doesn't really matter to me." Kakashi drawled out while keeping his eyes on his book, Icha Icha Nurses.

Hiruzen guessed it right. Unfortunately for Kakashi, he couldn't grant the Elite Jonin's request today.

"I'm sorry Kakashi, but I cannot grant your request." Hiruzen apologized, not in the least surprised when the silver-haired Jonin snapped his book closed and levelled him with a piercing glare.

"Oh, why not Hokage-sama?" Kakashi growled out, surprising those in the room for his open anger directed at the village leader.

"I am sorry Kakashi, but the village tradition has always been the Rookie of the Year with the Top Kunoichi and Dead Last. By allowing you to have Sasuke and Naruto together would ruin this setup, as well as the team being unbalanced in talent, what with both the boys being incredibly strong for their age."

Hiruzen could see the Jonin grit his teeth underneath his mask. He did feel bad for denying the request, as it was obvious to the Hokage that Kakashi was looking forward to being able to teach his sensei's son, most likely feeling a duty to teach the Yondaime's only child. It was a surprise to everyone in the room that when Kakashi was about to argue back a Cat-masked Anbu member appeared before the elderly Kage.

"Neko-san, what can I help you with?"

"My apologies for interrupting your meeting Hokage-sama, but I believe I may be able to assist with your current predicament." Neko said to her leader. "If Kakashi-senpai is okay with only having the Uchiha boy instead of both, I am more than happy to take young Naruto-kun as an apprentice."

"Oh, is that so Neko-san? And why would you be offering such a thing, may I ask? If you were to take an apprentice you would have to leave the Anbu, just so you are aware." Hiruzen was truly curious why his personal Anbu guard was offering to take on an apprentice. Apprenticeships weren't unheard of, but he was nonetheless intrigued by Neko's request.

"I guess you could call it a sense of duty if you were to classify my request as anything Hokage-sama." Ah, so that was it was it? Hiruzen should have figured as much.

Neko, or by her true name Yugao Uzuki, was once a student to the late Kushina Uzumaki. It really didn't surprise him that she knew that Naruto was her late sensei's son. The request made sense now, if only that Yugao would no doubt feel a responsibility to teach Kushina's son like Kakashi did for his own sensei. And with Yugao being a skilled kenjutsu practitioner as well as having some basic skill in medical ninjutsu, Hiruzen could see what Yugao would be able to teach Naruto. With chakra control being a large part of medical ninjutsu, Yugao would no doubt be able to help the boy with his more than likely large chakra reserves. Between the Kyuubi and his Uzumaki lineage, Hiruzen wouldn't be surprised if Naruto had more chakra than he did.

"What do you think of this Kakashi, are you okay with Neko-san taking Naruto-kun as an apprentice?" Although Hiruzen knew Kakashi wasn't particularly happy with the arrangement, there wasn't much him for to say in the situation besides 'yes'. Kakashi was the only one with able to teach Sasuke once he awakened his Sharingan, and Neko was more than talented enough to teach young Naruto.

Receiving a nod from Kakashi and saying a quick thank you to Neko before she disappeared back into the shadows of the room, Hiruzen gave his list of students a quick onceover before he started listing teams. He had an idea who would be placed with Sasuke under Kakashi, it would just be up to Kakashi to turn them into an effective team. Clearing his throat again, Hiruzen started to list the teams.

"Team One under Jonin-sensei…"

* * *

After his usual routine of chakra control training, shower and breakfast, Naruto headed out for the academy. Today he would finally have a sensei to teach him; well a human sensei that wasn't trapped inside of him, but he digressed. He would hopefully get someone who could teach him something new and would be highly skilled. As long as they knew things he didn't know and was able to teach him, he would be happy.

Walking in through the academy doors and traversing through the hallways, he arrived at his classroom and walked up to his spot in the back by the window as usual. Locking onto the chakra signatures of a few high-level shinobi outside the academy in the trees, Naruto wondered if the Jonin-sensei were already here and were looking to observe the team announcements. Briefly trying to feel out which signatures were the strongest, Naruto was snapped out of his pondering and groaned when he heard the heavy footfalls and arguing of two kunoichi getting closer to the classroom.

His guess of who was making so much noise was proven correct when the door was blasted open and a pink-haired girl and a blonde girl ran into the room with their heads pressed against each other, their eyes locked onto the other with a glare that could kill a weaker human bring.

"I'm sitting next to Sasuke-kun Ino-pig!"

"I'm sitting next to Sasuke-kun Forehead-girl!"

Naruto wondered if this was what all kunoichi were like; focusing more on dieting and boys than training and growing on stronger. He certainly hoped not, his idea of his clan matriarch would be a strong woman who could fight alongside him and give him a run for his money during a spar. He had no desire to be with anyone remotely resembling a fan girl. By the twitching eyebrow on the usual brooding face of Sasuke, Naruto figured he held Naruto's own views on kunoichi. Or he was gay, Naruto didn't really care about the duck-assed Uchiha.

"Alright everyone, quiet down and take your seats." Iruka-sensei said as he walked into the room. Naruto raised an eyebrow when he didn't feel Mizuki's chakra signature and noted that Iruka had some bandages on his face and arms. "Today you are now Genin of Konoha and I expect you all to act like it." Iruka declared with a pointed stare to everyone in the room.

"Now I will be listing the teams, and going forward the two people mentioned alongside you will be your new teammates. They will be with you during all training sessions and missions along with your Jonin-sensei, so do your best to get along with one another and do your village proud." Iruka-sensei explained with a small, proud smile on his lips.

Listening to the teams being listed so far, Naruto wondered what the hopes were for the first six teams. Every single member of the teams were civilian children who barely passed the exam, so Naruto had to wonder if they were placed on teams together in the hopes that they would all either quit or go back to the academy. The village couldn't honestly believe that a few children barely stronger than the average civilian would do well as a shinobi, could they?

"Team Seven will be Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Sai. Your Jonin-sensei will be Kakashi Hatake."

He supposed that team made sense. Putting the Rookie of the Year with the Top Kunoichi was a regular team placement. However, Naruto didn't have any idea who this 'Sai' was. There wasn't anyone in his class with that name, so maybe he was an already graduated student who needed the two slots on his team filled. Whatever, Naruto didn't really care, congrats to the pink-haired harpy for getting placed with her 'one true love' he guessed.

"Team Eight will be Hyuuga Hinata, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka. Your Jonin-sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi."

That team made sense too. From what he knew of all the clans, which was quite a bit from his extensive reading into all the clans of Konoha, Naruto knew why they were placed together. All of those clans were well known for their tracking ability, so no doubt they were put on a team together to play off each other's strengths. A rather effective team if Naruto were to admit.

"Team Nine is still in circulation from last year, so Team Ten will be Choji Akamichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka. Your Jonin-sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi."

Ah, the Ino-Shika-Cho formation. That team was practically a given. All the history books of famous Konoha teams went on about the legendary teamwork of the Ino-Shika-Cho, so it was no surprise they were all put together. Ignoring Ino's outburst about how unfair it was she wasn't put with Sasuke, Naruto realized he was the only one not put on a team. It seemed by the multiple pairs of eyes on his person, he wasn't the only one to notice this either.

"Team Eleven will be Naruto Uzumaki, apprenticed under Jonin Yugao Uzuki." Iruka finished as he rolled up the scroll with the teams on it. "Good luck to all of you on your future careers as shinobi of Konoha. I hope you all go on to do great things, and it's been a pleasure being your teacher. Your new senseis will be here shortly to pick you all up."

Watching as Iruka left the room, Naruto looked out the window in an attempt to ignore the stares he was getting, as well as the murderous gaze of Sasuke. No doubt the Uchiha was pissy about not getting his own private sensei because he was 'an Uchiha' or some other bullshit reason. Though if his sensei wasn't here soon, Naruto would argue he wasn't responsible for the inevitable _Water Prison_ jutsuthat drowned 'The Last Uchiha'. He was used to the glares he got from civilians, but it didn't mean he was okay with it.

Hearing the door slide open, Naruto watched as random Jonin came into the room and picked up their teams. He watched as a gorgeous woman with a pair of fascinating red eyes came in and retrieved Team Eight. No doubt the dog-boy Kiba was drooling over his new beautiful sensei. Though he would admit she was a very curvy and gorgeous woman. Next to come in was a tall dark-haired man with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth who picked up Team Ten. Naruto supposed this was the Hokage's son, meaning he was probably a skilled Jonin if his father was any standard to go by.

The second to last sensei to come in, with Team Seven's still not having arrived, was a woman with straight purple hair that fell down to the middle of her back, warm brown eyes and red lips. She wore a black body suit with a grey flak jacket over her chest and a small patch of white bandages with a kunai holster on her right thigh. The sword on her lower back intrigued Naruto the most though, as sword-users were rather rare in Konoha. Besides Kumogakure and Kirigakure, none of the other nations really practiced kenjutsu.

"My name is Yugao Uzuki, would Naruto please meet me in training ground eighteen within ten minutes." The now named Yugao said before she disappeared in a swirl of leaves, indicating the use of the leaf-style variant of the _Shunshin._

Getting up and heading for the door, Naruto gave a small smirk to the Uchiha, which proved effective in making the Uchiha go from glaring to trying to murder him with his eyes. Naruto chuckled while he left the academy, it really was too easy to piss off Sasuke.

 **…**

Arriving in training ground eighteen, Naruto looked around for his sensei. He knew he wasn't late as it had only taken him six minutes in a fast-paced jog to make it the training ground. Wondering what Yugao-sensei was up to, he focused on his sensory skills and tried to locate his new sensei. Pinpointing the decent sized chakra signature, Naruto turned to the tree line just in time to see his sensei dash out of the trees with sword drawn. Leaning back so he was parallel to the ground while holding himself on one hand, Naruto ducked in time to see the flat of his sensei's sword flash past where his neck just was.

Jumping back, Naruto pulled out two kunai from the storage seal on his bandaged thigh and got into a ready stance with his left hand holding its kunai in reverse. Getting his guard up just in time to block a slash from his right, he parried it and pushed it away from him. Seeing the following strike was a crescent shaped slash coming from his left, he quickly pulled up his other kunai and blocked that strike as well. Trying to stab his attacker with his free hand, Naruto was able to create some space when Yugao-sensei jumped back.

"Good job in blocking my strikes Naruto-kun, but let's see how you do with taijutsu shall we?" Yugao-sensei said as she sheathed her sword and dashed in with hands raised, ready to strike at him.

Quickly resealing his kunai, Naruto raised his hands and flexed his fingers, letting his knuckles pop, allowing his hands to form their usual claw like appearance without the added ice. He already knew he'd be revealing some of his talents to his sensei, no need to give away everything. Leaning back and to the right to dodge a quick jab and spinning away to dodge the follow up kick, Naruto soon found himself being pressed rather handily by his new sensei. It really was completely different sparring against someone besides his clones, but he found he enjoyed the experience all the same. Dodging a kick aimed for his neck, Naruto ducked and pushed inside his sensei's guard, moving to counterattack.

Swiping his fingers at sensei's chest, Naruto pressed forward when she dodged and followed up with three successive swipes towards her arms and face. Dashing all around his sensei and flowing between quick slashes and kicks, Naruto did his best to put his sensei on the back leg. It quickly became apparent though that his sensei was as skilled as a Jonin should be when she parried every attack he threw at her while launching some of her own quite easily.

Disengaging from the close-up spar, Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself before he got back into his Fox Claw stance.

"Good work on taijutsu, a very interesting style you have there. Very… animalistic, I would say is the appropriate word." Yugao-sensei said with a thoughtful smile before she formed a few quick handseals. "Now let's see your ninjutsu! _Katon: Grand Fireball Jutsu_!"

Seeing the very large fireball quickly fly from his sensei's lips, Naruto did two quick handseals and raised his fingers to his mouth as he responded with his own jutsu.

" _Suiton: Water Wall Jutsu!_ "

Forming a wall of water in front of him that evaporated the fireball and created a layer of steam between him and his sensei, Naruto sensed for his sensei just in time to feel chakra being molded from his immediate left.

" _Katon: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"_

Using another _Water Wall Jutsu_ to block the five smaller fireballs launched at him by his sensei, Naruto flew through some more hand seals to launch an offensive attack.

" _Suiton: Wild Water Wave Jutsu!_ "

Launching a raging stream of water from his mouth, Naruto watched as his sensei back flipped and dashed to the left, effectively dodging his C-rank water jutsu.

"Very well done, I'm impressed with your current skill level. Very skilled indeed. I'm assuming you have a water affinity Naruto-kun?" Naruto nodded, there wasn't much point lying at this point, he had shown quite a veritable amount of ninjutsu for some out of the academy. Besides, he was having fun sparring with his sensei. "It's obvious you have a good handle on it. Makes me wonder what other talents you have hidden away, hmm?"

Naruto chuckled at the teasing tone and smirk he was receiving from his sensei. He didn't really think to hide his skills beyond the higher ranked water ninjutsu and his _Hyoton_ bloodline. His teacher couldn't be expected to accurately teach him if she didn't know some of his skills after all. Though seeing her skill in kenjutsu from earlier prompted him to make a mental note in learning that too. His mother was a skilled sword-user, might as well learn that as well.

"Judging by the chakra control you showed in the ninjutsu portion of the test, I can safely assume you can dispel genjutsu?" Giving his sensei another nod, she continued on. "That's good to hear, means we can skip the third lesson on genjutsu. So that means congratulations are in order, well done on passing the Genin Exam Naruto-kun!"

Naruto wasn't sure if he heard that right. Genin Exam? He had just passed that yesterday didn't he? Hearing his sensei chuckle, he supposed he looked rather confused right about now. Better to just get answers than continue trying to figure this out on his own.

"I though the Genin Exam was yesterday? You were named my sensei because I had passed right?"

"That's partially true in a sense. You see Naruto-kun, the test you did yesterday was more of a way to weed out the students who had no chance of becoming genin." Yugao explained. "By using the academy as a way to filter out the hopeless cases, the Jonin-sensei are able to test the graduates who are more likely to have a chance at becoming Genin. We call this the True Genin Exam. All your other classmates are doing something similar with their sensei's right about now. Those who pass become Genin, those who fail either dropout or are sent back to the academy for another year."

Naruto supposed that all made sense. He had noted that a lot of his class didn't have what it takes to be shinobi, so by using this dual layered test the village was able to effectively only take the shinobi hopefuls with potential into their ranks. This also had the added benefit of keeping the other Jonin free to do missions instead of having to teach Genin that barely had enough chakra to keep up a _Henge_ for more than two minutes.

"So what happens now, seeing as that I passed your test and all?"

"Well how about we do some quick introductions to get to know each other properly now that we've sparred a little." Yugao-sensei said a she took a seat and motioned for him to do the same. "So my name is Yugao Uzuki. I like kenjutsu, cats, and sparring with Hayate-kun. I dislike dogs and those who look down on kunoichi. My dream is to one day be the top kenjutsu user in the village. Your turn Naruto-kun."

"Well my name is Naruto, no known last name." Although it was a lie, he didn't need people asking any questions. Plus he'd been playing the ignorant game for years and had gotten rather used to being known as just Naruto, even if he was an Uzumaki-Namikaze. "I like learning new things and reading, as well as tea and hot springs. I dislike arrogant and stupid people. My ambition is to learn everything available to me. Also, I look to hopefully learning medical ninjutsu and genjutsu now that I'm an actual shinobi."

"Those are good dreams and goals Naruto-kun. I know some basic medical ninjutsu myself, so maybe once we get your control to a good level we can work on learning some medical jutsu. You'll have to learn all about the anatomy and poisons as well though. Two of my friends are actually skilled in poisons and genjutsu, so I can see if they can offer any tips."

"That would be very helpful Yugao-sensei." It truly was. He really did luck out on the sensei lottery.

"Well now that we've introduced ourselves, you're free to do whatever you want for the day. I have to report in with the other Jonin on which Genin passed, so you have the rest of the day off. Meet me back here tomorrow at eight a.m. and we'll start with training." Yugao-sensei explained as she got up from her seat on the grass and wiped the dirt off her pants. "Maybe we'll see about doing a mission depending on how the day goes."

Seeing his sensei disappear in a swirl of leaves, Naruto got up and stretched. It was odd to think he had the day off, though he supposed he could go have a soak at the hot springs. Now that he wasn't freezing all the time he _loved_ the hot springs. It was like immersing yourself in a hot blanket.

' _ **Hey kit, what did your new sensei say her name was?'**_

Although not meaning to, he couldn't hold stop from jumping in shock. He knew the fox liked to spook him like that, but he couldn't help it. Despite how long they've been in communication, he never got used to it when his tenant would just randomly open their link and talk to him.

' _Hey to you too Kurama. And she said her name was Yugao Uzuki. Why do you ask?'_ Naruto really was curious. Other than the occasional comment about killing Sasuke because of 'those cursed eyes', Kurama didn't show any interest in humans, other than himself of course, but Naruto figured it was mainly because he didn't want his container being weak.

' _ **I thought the name was familiar. Your new sensei was once the student of your mother kit, probably why she wanted to apprentice you. From your mother's memories, it was pretty obvious this Yugao idolized her. Means she'll want to teach you properly.'**_

' _That's good to hear. If my mother taught her that hopefully means she really is skilled with a sword. Most likely it also means she won't be prejudiced towards me.'_

' _ **Whatever brat. Lemme go back to my nap and go do whatever you do when you're not being taught by my magnificent self.'**_

Sighing at the obvious dismissal from his other sensei, Naruto headed towards the village for a trip to the hot spring; he could hear the hot water calling to him…

* * *

"Team Six was a fail too Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen sighed to himself. Maybe the academy was better off not accepting civilian children into the shinobi program. All six teams made of civilians failed this year, which either showed that the academy wasn't training them properly, or that the Jonin were testing them too harshly. Seeing as it was peacetime, he was leaning toward the former. It was a common occurrence during times of peace for things to be a little more lax, but having six teams fail in a row was a little unsettling.

"Thank you very much Genma." Hiruzen said to the Tokubestu Jonin. "How about Team Seven Kakashi, how'd they do?"

"They passed Hokage-sama, but they were an absolute wreck during the bell test." Hiruzen noted how exasperated Kakashi sounded, obviously his team wasn't living up to the expectations either of them had. "Sai is a well-rounded shinobi with a unique style of ninjutsu, but he has no people skills and does a good job of aggravating his two teammates with his 'nicknames' as he calls them. Sakura is a fan girl, physically weak and a disgrace to kunoichi everywhere. She would much rather follow Sasuke and be protected by her 'knight in shining armour' than train and become strong. Sasuke is the worst of the bunch honestly. He is the most arrogant Genin I have ever met; he very much believes him being an Uchiha puts him above all others. Even when I had swiftly defeated him after he attacked me head-on, he was more enraged than humbled and blindly attacked me again."

Hiruzen groaned. That team sounded absolutely terrible. Separate their problems were manageable, but together they sounded more like a natural disaster. Waving for Kakashi to continue, Hiruzen hoped it got a little better.

"They failed the first part of my test, this resulted in me tying Sakura to a stump due to her having been knocked out during the test from a D-rank genjutsu. Sasuke refused to work with anyone and Sai just seemed more amused than anything and smiled the whole time." Hiruzen noticed Kurenai's frown at Kakashi's story, no doubt angered by a girl who obviously didn't take her responsibility as a kunoichi seriously. "Afterwards I gave Sasuke and Sai a lunchbox and ordered them not to feed Sakura, then while I was gone both the boys offered to feed Sakura as they didn't want to have to fight with her on an empty stomach. I passed them for showing a small amount of teamwork in the end, but they need _a lot_ of work to be anything decent down the road."

"I'm sure you can do wonders for your new team Kakashi, good luck though." Hiruzen chuckled out. This must have been a karmic punishment for Kakashi's tardiness and perversion. "How about you Kurenai, how'd Team Eight do?"

"Team Eight passed as well Hokage-sama." Kurenai said with a proud smile on her face. "I tested them in their ability to find me while I remained hidden in the woods with the condition of finding me within a two hour time limit or they would risk failing. Kiba immediately went to search for me on his own, but Shino was effective in keeping him from running off. Due to Shino's leading of the team, they were all able to find me after seventy-five minutes of searching and passed my test. Hinata was able to pinpoint the area where my genjutsu was with her Byakugan, and they all worked well with both the boys in finding my exact location and subduing me. They need some work on their teamwork, but they look to be an effective unit once they get used to working with one another."

That was good. After hearing of the first seven teams he was beginning to worry about this generation of shinobi. The fact that Kurenai was smiling throughout her whole explanation spelled good things for her team. Motioning Asuma to speak, he hoped the good news continued.

"Team Ten passed too Hokage-sama. Despite them growing up together their teamwork needs a lot of improvement if they're to be as effective a team as their parents." Asuma said with a small frown. "Shikamaru is the laziest boy I have ever met, but is a literal genius IQ wise. Once pushed he was able to lead his team into scoring three hits on me, which was my test. Choji is a gentle soul, but needs to learn when to use his strength because right now he's too afraid to attack anyone he considers an ally, even in a spar. Ino has a terrible attitude, a mixture of fan girl and brattiness. She believes herself to be smarter than her teammates and on more than one occasion stated she could lead better than Shikamaru, but didn't contribute much in the way of doing any actual work besides bragging. They have potential, but it's buried deep in there." Asuma finished with another slow drag of his cigarette, obviously depressed at the state of his new team.

"Like Kakashi, I'm sure you can show them the right way. I have faith you'll get them on track and turn them into the team I know they can be." Hiruzen said to his son, though inside he was wishing Kakashi and Asuma the best of luck. Fan girls were a truly terrible breed of kunoichi. "Now Yugao, how did young Naruto-kun do today?"

Listening as Yugao explained her testing of her new apprentice and the skills she had seen, Hiruzen found himself raising an eyebrow at Naruto's abilities. Although happy to hear that they boy had done so well, some of the points were rather worrying. Where did he learn his taijutsu style? How'd he learn chakra control to the level he showed, as well as the water ninjutsu he showed too? Was someone in the village teaching him without him knowing about it? He'd go ask the young redhead, but their relationship had always been rocky ever since Naruto figured out Hiruzen was keeping secrets from him. He'd just have to keep an eye on him and hope there was nothing bad happening to Minato's son, probably a good idea to check his academy records too.

"I'm glad to hear Naruto-kun did so well during your test. He's a rather surprising individual, isn't he?" Hiruzen said with a chuckle. "Alright everyone, you're free to go for the day. For those who failed your teams, better luck next time around. For those who passed, teach them well and I hope to hear great things about your teams. Have a good day."

Seeing the Jonin all disappear, whether by _Shunshin_ or by walking out of the room, Hiruzen relaxed back in his chair and looked at the large stack of paperwork on his desk that was calling out to him. Kami really was a cruel mistress sometimes…

* * *

Naruto would freely admit to whoever asked that being a Genin was both a good and bad thing. The best part of finally being a shinobi was that he no longer had to attend the academy. No more boring lectures and no being forced to learn inane things. He now had the opportunity to learn what he wanted. Sadly there wasn't a lot of available material for new Genin. Apparently everything over C-rank was reserved for shinobi that were Chuunin and up, so no studying high ranked ninjutsu and because of the fact wind ninjutsu users were so rare there were no wind jutsu at all in the shinobi library. Luckily he still had access to books on ninjutsu and genjutsu theory so hopefully he could develop his own jutsu to make up for a lack of available material. Plus with the help of Yugao-sensei and her two kunoichi friends he was able to learn the basics of a few things in the last month of being a Genin.

His sensei had been a humongous help in learning new things, and although she would always say he knew so much for someone his age and would drop hints asking how he knew so much, he still valued when everything he learned from her. They hadn't yet started studying kenjutsu, but she was still willing to help him in taijutsu and in the basics of being a med-nin. Learning anatomy and basic healing was pretty interesting, and they'd be starting work with the _Mystical Palm Jutsu_ pretty soon. Also, thanks to the help of the scariest woman he had ever met, Anko Mitarashi, he was also learning how to treat minor poisons.

Anko was a fun person to learn from, in that she knew a lot about the human body, mainly about how to torture and poison it, but she still knew her stuff. It didn't stop her from being an absolutely frightening kunoichi. When she had found out he had a heightened healing factor, she got the largest, toothiest grin he had ever seen and proceeded to barrage him with kunai in what she liked to call 'Anko Tag'. Her version of the popular children's game was basically the same thing, but for every kunai you got hit by you had to buy her a stick of dango.

The benefit of Anko Tag was that his dodging skills and passive awareness were trained to a high degree. Probably why his sensei allowed her fellow purple-haired friend to play Anko Tag with him. By learning to always have his sensory skills activated he was able to keep Anko from ambushing him, but that usually just caused her to blitz him with double the kunai. Luckily he was able to dodge about eighty percent of them, the other twenty percent only causing minor wounds, so unless he faced someone who had more kunai and sharp objects than Anko he had a pretty good chance of coming out of that fight unscathed.

Kurenai Yuhi was an interesting woman and Yugao-sensei's other friend. She was the resident genjutsu mistress of Konoha, and was more than happy to answer any questions he had on her chakra control exercises and also taught him a little on genjutsu. She had only shown him her _Flower Petal Escape_ technique which made her look like she dissolved into flower petals and surround her enemy, which he had secretly modified to suit his own style, but it was a good stepping stone for learning how to use genjutsu to escape genjutsu. His version of the jutsu involved him scattering into snow and using small flurry to surround his opponent. His _Snow Flurry Escape_ also had the added benefit of tricking his opponent's senses into thinking they were getting colder when the snow in his illusion touched them, making them believe the illusion more since it involved multiple senses.

D-rank missions were probably the worst part of being a shinobi though. Yugao-sensei had been upfront with him and basically said they were a rite of passage for new Genin, but he figured they were more like hazing. She had told him how there was no real reason for shinobi to do babysitting and grocery carrying missions, but he had to do them anyway. She had also said that once he got forty D-ranks done they would look into doing a basic C-rank mission. It was that promise that kept him from blowing up when people would scowl at him when he showed up for D-ranks, like somehow it was his fault a jinchuuriki got assigned to carrying their groceries. The idea of seeing the world outside the village was a good deterrent from slaughtering some old lady who didn't want him painting her fence. Yugao-sensei usually had a few choice words for some of the more vocal people who didn't want him doing their missions though.

 **…**

Yugao sat down beside her two friends in the dango bar and smiled to them. Now that she was no longer in the Anbu she had more time to spend with her friends, so they had all started getting dango together, at Anko's insistence, so they could chat about their students or anything else. Usually Anko would complain at her increased spending on kunai because 'Naru-chan kept dodging all my throws'.

"So how are you both doing today?"

"Hey Yugao-chan!" Anko said in her usual exuberance. "Me and Nai-chan are doing great, how about you?"

"I'm doing fine." She replied as she grabbed a stick of dango and ate it. "I'm thinking it's about time for me and Naruto to get a C-rank mission."

Yugao saw the surprise on Kurenai's face. Though not unheard of, it wasn't very common for new Genin to take C-ranks. Usually they would start once they had at least four months of experience.

"Are you sure Yugao?" Kurenai asked hesitantly. "We all know how talented and strong Naruto is, but do you think it wise to start C-ranks so early?"

"Don't worry too much Kurenai, Naruto will be fine. I still think he's holding back, so I'm hoping a mission will get him to show more of his skills." Yugao knew her apprentice was strong, definitely stronger than he let on, but she just wanted to know _how_ strong he really was. "Plus I heard Kakashi-senpai took his team on one last week, though that was because that Uchiha brat on his team demanded one in front of the Hokage. Naruto is definitely more prepared than Team Seven was."

"That kid either has huge balls or rocks for brains," Anko whistled loudly, "but either way he's still stupid. A few weeks in and he's already demanding things. Hopefully his attitude doesn't get him killed… or maybe it will, who cares?"

"Anko!"

"Oh c'mon Nai-chan. The kid has got issues, everyone knows but no one wants to say anything." Anko said while she simultaneously ate three dango all at once. "Once he pops out some Uchiha babies he'll realize it's just the Uchiha name the villagers love about him, not his talents or whatever people say when they kiss his ass."

Yugao knew Anko was right. Sasuke Uchiha had a terrible arrogance problem that wasn't about to go away anytime soon, at least it wouldn't until the villagers stop treating him like Kami incarnate. Diving back into the conversation, which was now about Kurenai's genin team, Yugao thanked her old sensei for giving birth to such an easygoing apprentice. Naruto truly was the perfect student.

 **…**

"So Naruto-kun, you've completed forty D-rank missions. You know what that means right?" He could hear the teasing tone to his sensei's voice, as she had took great amusement in seeing him trudge through the chores assigned him to every day, but right now he couldn't care less.

Relaxing in training ground eighteen across from his sensei, Naruto had a satisfied smile on his face. He had just completed his fortieth mission, a rather annoying mission he had done a few times already. Catching Tora was always a 'Yugao Favourite'. Apparently it was a favourite among the other Jonin-sensei too as a way to haze… err, train their new Genin, but Naruto and Yugao treated it as a test of his tracking and capture skills. Because the Daimyo's wife's cat had been escaping genin team for years, Tora had developed pretty good hiding and evasion skills. It was a good way to put his tracking training to use, and he also currently had the fastest record of catching Tora. It had been a long day and rather than using tracking skills he just used his sensor abilities and found and returned the cat within ten minutes. He still found it amusing when the Chuunin working the mission desk saw the cat so soon and dropped his jaw in disbelief.

"Yes Yugao-sensei. Now that we have forty missions done we can take a C-rank mission right?" Naruto hoped she didn't go back on her word, this promised C-rank was the only thing keeping him sane.

"Correct Naruto-kun." Yugao-sensei said with a chuckle. He figured he looked pretty eager right now, but damn did he want a C-rank. "Well come on and we'll go see Hokage-sama about getting us an escort or delivery mission."

Nodding to his sensei, they both stood up and disappeared in twin versions of the leaf-variant _Shunshin_. Reappearing in front of the Hokage Tower, Naruto followed after his sensei while they walked through the large building. The Hokage Tower, besides being the office of the Hokage, had a few other operations inside it as well. It also housed the mission room, where shinobi could pick up missions any time of the day. The village archives and shinobi registry were in the tower as well. It was basically the information center of the village, but only those ranked Tokubestu Jonin and up could access most of what was stored in it.

Arriving in the mission hall to receive his mission, he was surprised to see the Hokage and Iruka-sensei sitting behind the long table at the end of the room. Though not unusual for the Hokage to be running the desk, it was surprising to see him reading a letter that seemed to have been delivered by what looked like a pug wearing a Konoha hitai-ate. That was all sorts of odd.

"Yugao Uzuki and Naruto reporting for a C-rank mission, Hokage-sama." Yugao said, drawing the attention of the Hokage.

"Ah yes, Yugao and Naruto-kun. Perfect timing." The Hokage said, motioning them to come closer to the table and handing the letter in his hand to his sensei. "I've just received word from Kakashi and his team in the Land of Waves requesting backup on their mission. Apparently their C-rank escort mission turned into an A-rank mission when Zabuza Momochi showed up to kill their client. Kakashi is currently out of commission due to chakra exhaustion, but thankfully Zabuza is recuperating from his own wounds as well. They suspect Zabuza to be working with someone pretending to be a Kiri hunter-nin as well." The Hokage explained to both Naruto and his sensei.

"What would you ask of us Hokage-sama?" His sensei said in what Naruto liked to call her 'professional voice'.

"I'd like you and your apprentice to head to the Land of Waves and provide backup for Kakashi and his team. You're to be in charge until Kakashi is fully recovered and able to lead again. You have one hour to prepare then you're to be on your way. Pakkun, feel free to let Kakashi know Team Eleven is on their way to provide backup." Making a note of everything the Hokage had said and seeing the pug poof away into smoke, Naruto looked to his sensei for more instructions.

"Prepare for a two week mission and meet me at the southern gates in forty minutes. We'll do a bag check there before we head out."

Nodding to his sensei, Naruto disappeared in a _Shunshin_ towards his home. Despite not getting the C-rank mission he wanted, an A-rank support mission with missing-nin involved was more than a satisfactory substitute.

* * *

The trip to the Land of Waves had been done mostly in silence, the quiet only being broken when his sensei would explain Team Seven's mission and what their role would be when they got to the home of their client, the bridge builder Tazuna. It seemed Team Seven's mission had been a simple escort and protection for Tazuna, who had actually lied about the dangers surrounding him due to a man named Gato. Apparently Tazuna was building a bridge in an effort to save his country from poverty by connecting them to the mainland to reopen their ability trade. This Gato character, who had effectively taken over the country, didn't like that so he employed the services of the Demon Brothers and Zabuza Momochi.

According to the letter from this Kakashi person his sensei knew, Team Seven had defeated the two Chuunin missing-nin called the Demon Brothers and had proceeded on with the mission even after they were told of the dangers and lies about the actual mission. Naruto thought that was stupid. If client's could just lie and still get their missions performed, what's to stop everyone from requesting C-ranks so they could save money.

Following the confrontation with the Demon Brothers, Team Seven continued on and eventually ran into Zabuza and gotten into a fight with him as well. The fight ended when the fake hunter-nin had put Zabuza into a death-like state and disappeared with the body. Kakashi had gotten chakra exhaustion from the fight and was meant to be out for a few days to recover. His sensei had told him their role during the stay in Wave Country was to protect the client along with Team Seven and provide backup where needed. She made sure to let him know this wasn't their mission, they were just backup.

Hopping from tree to tree, Naruto pondered that for a bit. As long as the Uchiha and Haruno didn't get all in his face about him being 'backup' he would be okay.

 **…**

Looking down at the sleeping face of one Kakashi Hatake, Naruto wondered if this man was really a Jonin. The fact he was spooning an Icha Icha book caused a sweat drop to roll down the side of his head. His sensei had assured him the man was strong, and Kurama mentioned something about his father training him, but Naruto couldn't really see it. What kind of person did this Kakashi guy have to be to spoon an erotic novel?

They had talked with him when he was awake earlier, and they decided the best course of action was for Naruto to protect Tazuna while the man worked on the bridge, allowing Yugao to help Kakashi recover. This would let Kakashi be able to train up his team a little for the inevitable fight with Zabuza and his helper. Naruto figured the plan was okay, but he would rather not have his sensei around Team Seven. He doubted they had gotten much better in the last month, and he was sure his sensei would probably dislike Sasuke and Sakura just as much as he does.

Averting his eyes from the weird masked shinobi on the bed, Naruto silently left the room and walked downstairs. Sitting down at the table, Naruto watched as Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, continued to make dinner. Tsunami was a rather pretty woman with long hair, that when angled just right appeared to change between black and blue. She was rather polite, saying how grateful she was for all the Konoha shinobi to come and help them in their time of need. Naruto wasn't really here to be a hero, but if that's what she wanted to believe than all the power to her.

"So second best, what are you doing here?"

Hearing the voice of Sasuke and that stupid nickname, Naruto looked up with a blank look on his face. Sasuke really wasn't very creative if he couldn't come up with anything besides 'second best'.

"Hello to you too Uchiha, and me and my sensei are here to provide backup for you and your team. Your sensei and the Hokage decided it was best to have some extra people around when Zabuza came back."

"Hn, like we need your help. I'm more than enough to take down Zabuza's help."

"Sure you are Sasuke. Hey, remind me how many spars you won against me at the Academy, I seem to have forgotten?" Seeing Sasuke walk away with another grunt, he was happy he no longer had to deal with the arrogant brat.

' _ **You could always rip his eyes out.'**_

Naruto sighed, Kurama _always_ suggested ripping Sasuke's eyes out.

' _No Kurama, I'm not ripping his eyes out. He hasn't given me reason to yet."_

That didn't mean he hadn't considered it though...

Laying his head on the kitchen table and watching Tsunami cook, Naruto decided to get comfortable. Between being trapped in a house with his two least favourite Genin and having to protect the drunk old man in the other room all week, he figured he should at least be able to relax a bit before Zabuza attacked again. Who knows, maybe he would be lucky enough to fight someone.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Yay, already a new chapter! This story just writes itself for me. Really enjoying fanfiction writing!**

 **Went with some popular suggestions and gave Naruto an apprenticeship. Yugao Uzuki has retired from Anbu in order to teach her sensei's son. As you can see, she's a pretty awesome sensei, and one of the only people Naruto likes besides Kurama.**

 **Naruto is now in the land of waves and is gearing up to meet and fight Haku and Zabuza. I'm dancing around the idea of making Naruto wield Kubikiribocho instead of Kusanagi. I like the chokuto version of the Kusanagi that Sasuke had later on more than the katana/sword that Orochi uses anyways. Plus with Naruto's taijutsu style he's more of a 'in your face and make you bleed' type fighter, so I think a huge cleaver would fit his style rather well. Coupled with him learning Silent Killing and the** _ **Hidden Mist**_ **jutsu, he would probably do well with Kubikiri. Plus Samehada is used in my other story, so lemme know what you think.**

 **I'm liking the suggestions about either Temari or Kurotsuchi being Naruto's love interest. Right now I'm leaning towards Kurotsuchi. I'd like to imagine them meeting on a mission somewhere and getting into a huge lava/ice fight. I've toyed around with the fight a bit and I'm liking it. Temari was a cool option too, I could see her falling for him if I make Gaara and Naruto fight like in canon. I think I'll have Naruto be gaining the Snake Contract to help with that before that happens so he backup during the fight though.**

 **I also liked the suggestion about Naruto supporting a person who wants to be a Kage, so Kuro-chan (my new name for Kurotsuchi) is currently my favourite right now. So if you want Temari or anyone else give me a good reason and argue your case. Or if you like Naru/Kuro, give me some fluffy moments you might like to see.**

 **See you next time,**

 **InsanityFic**


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